Unpaid internships are leaving college seniors broke and unemployed after graduation, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
For the third consecutive year, NACE reported survey results showing unpaid internships do not benefit college students, especially in post-graduation employment.
In 2013, NACE found 63.1 percent of college seniors who completed a paid internship received at least one job offer, while only 37 percent of former unpaid interns were offered employment.
Debby Wall, director of internships at Elon University, argued otherwise.
According to Wall, all internships — paid and unpaid — benefit college students by offering course credit and experience.
Wall suggested multiple internship experiences are reasons for employment offers, not the intern’s salary.

Five companies are vying to develop wind farms off of North Carolina’s coast, an effort that would promote and produce green energy in the state and the surrounding area.
The federal government introduced the idea in December 2012 by asking companies about their interest in offshore wind development.

Elon University is currently launching the Writing Excellence Initiative, a project aimed to make writing a key component of every student’s Elon education.
The Elon community started developing the project in 2010 to build on the school’s mission of “integrating learning across the disciplines, putting knowledge into practice, and preparing students to be global citizens and informed leaders motivated by concern for the common good.”
The Writing Excellence Initiative is a part of Elon’s overarching Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), as a required part of Elon’s reaccreditation process.
The goal of the initiative is to prepare every Elon student to be an outstanding writer, regardless of his or her major.
In creating “engaged minds, inspiring leaders, and global citizens,” the initiative is focusing on developing students’ abilities to write in three ways: writing to learn, writing in a discipline, and writing as a citizen.
Writing to learn will focus on analyzing and problem solving, while writing in a discipline will be geared toward a student's individual major.

Students are saying goodbye to traditional homework as “flipped classrooms” attract national attention.
Flipped classrooms refer to a growing number of teachers who digitally record their lessons and assign them as homework.

MOOCs, or massive online open courses, have a future at Elon University.
It is expected that Elon will redefine the MOOC to supplement, not replace, courses, according to Chris Fulkerson, assistant vice president for technology.
MOOCs are increasing in popularity worldwide as thousands of students enroll in courses through online sites such as Coursera, Udacity, and edX. The courses are free of charge to anyone who signs up, and most do not carry course credit at traditional universities.

Dartmouth College recently announced it will no longer accept Advanced Placement credits from incoming freshmen, sparking a debate concerning the academic worth of Advanced Placement credits at all college institutions, including Elon University.
Dartmouth made the decision after its psychology department questioned the academic rigor of the AP psychology exam.

Residence Life at Elon University recently announced all students will be able to return to their current residence halls or apartments during the 2013-2014 academic year, a change in policy from the previous year.

In the wake of the Newtown shooting last month, more than 320 university presidents in the United States have signed a petition against legislation for legal possession of firearms on university campuses.
Although Elon University President Leo Lambert has not signed the petition, Elon strictly prohibits the possession or use of weapons on university property.

Habitat for Humanity, run by senior president Caroline Taylor, is proving to be a promising community service organization for the 2012-2013 school year.
Habitat for Humanity is not only an Elon University-offered service club—it is an international, nonprofit and nondenominational Christian housing ministry.

While the bagel brunch is a recurring event that allows the community to come together, diversity and inclusion was emphasized at today’s gathering. The event follows an incident where discriminatory messages were written on the board in Koury Athletic Center.